What 2 Free Bananas Taught Me

Lessons from Amazon HQ (II)

On our tour of Amazon Headquarters we stumbled upon the famous free banana stand.

I had read about it months ago.

Essentially, Amazon gives out free bananas to anyone who comes by the stand, and wants them.

We saw an older gentleman fill a grocery bag with about seven of them. We talked with the “banista,” who said they give away about $7,000 per day.

They’ve been doing it since 2015, and given away more than 1.7 million.

Why?

According to the New York Post, Amazon“thought up the idea as a public service. Bananas are a healthy, compostable snack that don’t need to be wrapped like an apple and don’t have the price tag of an avocado.”

This all got me thinking.

We did the math, and realized they spend about $500,000 per year stocking and staffing the stand. It truly is an act of service for the company.

They are nourishing thousands of people in their home city every single day. Their snack held me over until lunch time, and helped me avoid being “hangry.” Yes, that’s hungry and angry. And it’s something that afflicts me seriously.

Great companies give away things for free.

As content creators it’s critical we give away our best information for free.

That’s why this email list is complimentary, and we send out informative blogs as often as possible.

Flash Briefings should be the same. Provide outstanding information for free, and the clients will roll in because you lead with value.